Dumb-waiter attachment



E. M. BUTLER AND G. A. JOCHUM.

DUMB WAITER ATTACHMENT.

APPLICATION FILED 05c. 29, 1920.

1,404,832. Patented Jan.31, 1922.

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TED STA'IES EDGAR M. BUTLER GEORGE A. JOCHUM OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

DU B-warren ATTACHMENT.

Specificationof Letters Patent. Patented J 31 192,?

Application filed December 29, 1920. Serial No. 433,772.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, EDGAR M; BUTLER and Gnoncn A. JooHUM, citizens ofthe United States, both residing at New York city, borough of Brooklyn,in the county of Kings and State of New York, have in vented a certainnew and useful Dumb Waiter Attachment, of which-the is a specification.

This invention is an attachment for dumb following waiters and" isparticularly adapted to be employed in conjunction with dumb waitersused, in apartmenthouses and other buildings.

In dumb waiter installation in apartment houses and elsewhere, the dumbwaiter, which is suspended on a rope or cable, is

adapted to travel in a shaft which extends of refuse, garbage, ashes,etc. in their re movalto the cellar or basement ofthe building and inthe delivery of foods, ice, milk, etc., throughout' the building fromthe base nien't. As dumb waiters are now construct ed, they are usuallyprovided with a flat top having an eye bolt at its center to which thecable or hoisting rope is attached and in practically every instance thetop is formed with a raised border or'frame. This construction resultsin the formation of a dust catcher on topof the dumb waiter and sincethe raised border precludes articles placed on top of the dumb waiterfrom falling ofi, it has become the practice in the larger cities formilkmen to place'the milk bottles for the various families on top of thedumb waiter and in the dust and dirt which collects thereon. Themilkbottles are usually wet from ice packings in the delivery wagons andsuch water drains off the bottles on to the top of the dumb'waiter',forms the dust thereon into mud which sifts through the top of the dumbwaiter into the interior thereof and on to articles p'ositioned'withinthe dumb waiter, thereby producing a very unsanitary condition. 'This'isparticularly true in large apartmenthouseswhere care: less tenantsindulge in thepractice of throwing'sweepings, combings, cigaretteandcigar butts and other waste material down the dumb waiter shaft.Manifestly, this waste material is collected on top' of the dumb waiterand when the milk bottles are removed by the respective tenants, thisdirt sticks to the bottle and is carried thereby into the apartment.

Furthermore, the practice of throwing cigarette butts into the shaft hasresulted in a large number of fires due to the ignition of the wastematerial on top of the dumb waiter by'the lighted butts.

\Yith the foregoing considerations in mind, the object of the presentinvention is to provide a simple attachment for dumb waiters whichattachment may be readily installed on any dumb wa ter of correspondingsize and 1s adapted, not only to overcome the improper practice ofdelivering milk bottles on top of the dumb waiter, but also precludesmaterial thrown down the shaft from;

lodging on the top of the dumb waiter,

thereby rendering the dumb waiter more sanitary than heretofore.

v\Viththis general object in view, the present invention in itspreferred embodiment consists in a metallic cover or hoodofsubstantially,pyramidal shape provided at its apex with an apertureadapted to embrace the housing rope or cable of the dumb waiter andhaving at its base a depending flange or. skirt. adapted to embrace theupper edge of, the dumb waiter, so as to centralize the hood and imparta more finished appearace to the assemblage. In practice, the hood ispreferably divided into two sections which sections are adapted to beseparated for convenience in installing the hood on a dumb waiterw'ithout necessitating the detachment of the hoisting rope or cable andthereafter secured together when the hood is in, place thereon tomaintain the parts in assembled relation. i i

' Features of the invention, other than those adverted to, will beapparent from the hereinafter detailed description and claims, when readin conjunction with the accompanying drawings; I

' The accompanying drawings,v illustrate one practical embodiment. ofthe invention, but the construction therein shown is to be understood asillustrative, only, and not as are broken away the, interest ofclearness. Y

and adapted to be supported by cable .varied without in anywiseeffecting the invention which relates purely to an attach ment 6 shownas superimposed on the dumb preferably of the pyramidal form illustratedin the drawings. The attachment. which may be termed a hood,1s providedat itsapexv waiter in igure 1.

The attachment 6 is preferably formed from sheet metal, and vhile itsshape may differ from that shown in the drawings, it is with a hole 7through which the rope or cable 5 is adapted to pass and the four sidesof the base of the hood are'provided with a depending flange or skirt 8which is adapted to overlie the upper edge of the dumb waiter as clearlyshown in Figure 1 to centralize the hood'on the dumb waiter and impart afinished appearance to the assemblage.

In: order to permit the hood to be positioned on the dumb waiter withoutnecesst tating the disconnecting ofthe cable 5 therefrom, the hood ispreferably split diagonally along the line 9, so that it is formed, ineffect, in two parts, whereby the parts may be brought together from theopposite sides of the cable 5 in assembling the hood on the dumb waiter.In orderto normally hold the parts in assembled relation, the adjacentedges of the two sections are provided with alined curls 10 similar tothose common in hinge construction, some of which are formed on onesectionand some on the other, so that when the sections are assembledwith the curls 10 in alined relation, pins 11 be forced therethrough forthe purpose of holding; the parts together. The means described forms aconvenient and lHGXPGHSl'VG manner of atta maybe otherwise securedtogether. It is furthermore entirely within the scope of the inventionto otherwise form the hood so as to obviate the'necessity of releasingcable 5 from the dumb waiter in order to install the attachment and theconstruction shown is for the purposeof illustration only.

It will be apparent from the foregoing description that the attachmentof the present invention may be readily and expeditiously associatedwith any dumb walter installation, and, in practice, the attachment maybe made in different sizes to fit dumb waiters of chmei'it, though, ifdesired, the parts varying sizes. In any event, the device is eflicientin the carrying out'of its intended functions of precluding improper useof the dumb waiter, more specifically the'carrying of articles on thetop thereof, as well as the lodging of waste material on the top of thedumb waiter. The sloping sides of the hood will deflect material beyondthe side of the dumb waiter so that itv will fall to the bottom of theshaft where it may be removed from time totime by the janitor. Theftopof the.

V aidumb waiter equipped with the present in vention is in the shaftabove the floor where the fire starts the metal hood which substantiallyfillsrthe shaft will act as a damper to keep downitheflames and eventhough the dumb waiter burns away, the cable 5 will still, support thehood in the position of a damper within the shaft. V

. It will bemanifest to those skilled in the art that the invention iscapable of modification to adapt it to 'diiferent makes or kinds of dumbwaiters usedin the various environments "and since these modificationswill be apparent to a, skilled-mechanic, it is not deemed necessarytoshow the invention inv more than one of its forms. The invention istobef understood, however, as broadly novel as is commensurate with theappended claims. Inthe foregoing description of the specific for-m ofthe. present inventionillustrated, the samehas been described aspreferably made of sheet metal, although, in practice, the same may beconstructed from wood, cardboard, or any other suitable material andmaybe satisfactorilyfabricated from asbestos board or some other fibrousnoninflammablematerial without departing from the spirit of thisinvention. Moreover, we have described the present invention asparticularlyintended to be used as an attachment, thereby facilitatingits positioning on a dumbwaiter already installed. However, if

porated fin dumb waiter construction at the time 'of installationand'forma part of the dumb waiter instead of anattaohment therefor ashereinbefore pointed out. Having thus fully'described the invention,What we claim asnewand desireto secure by LettersPatentis:

1.--,.An attachment for dumb waiters em: bod-yi'n'g a -hood adapted toseaton top of a dumb-waiter-and provided with anaperture through-whichthelifting rope of the dumb waiter is adapted to pass.

' desired, the; present invention may be incor:

2. An attachmentfor dumb waiters embodying a hood provided with slopingsides and adapted to be loosely seated on the top of a dumb waiter,whereby extraneous materials falling on the dumb waiter are shed by thehood.

3. A dumb waiter attachment embodying a hood adapted to be seated on thetop of a dumb waiter and divided into a plurality of sections to permitof the positioning of the hood on the dumb waiter without necessitatingthe removal of the lifting cable of the dumbwaiter.

at. An attachment for dumb waiters embodying a canopy having a slidingtop and adapted to cover the top of a dumb waiter and provided with anaperture through which the lifting cable of the dumb waiter is adaptedto pass.

5. An attachment for dumb waiters embodying a canopy adapted to coverthe top of the dumb waiter and provided with an aperture through whichthe lifting cable of the dumb waiter passes, said canopy being entirelyindependent of the dumb waiter construction.

6. An assembly of the character described embodyinga dumb waiter, and alifting cable associated therewith, in combination with a canopycovering the top of the dumb waiter and provided with an aperturethrough which the lifting cable of the dumb waiter passes, said canopybeing adapted on its lower edge to overlie the upper edge of the dumbWaiter.

7 A dumb waiter attachment embodying a hood of square pyramidalconformation adapted to seat on the top of a dumb waiter and provided,at its apex with an aperture through which the lifting cable of thedumb waiter is adapted to pass.

8. A dumb waiter attachment embodying a metallic hood of squarepyramidal conformation adapted to seat on the top of a dumb waiter andprovided at its apex with an aperture through which the lifting cable ofthe dumb waiter is adapted to pass, said hood being divided in adiagonal plane pass-

